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Is it necessary to boil ginger before using in a brew? I am asking from the standpoint of extracting flavor, not from a sanitation standpoint. If it is not necessary to boil for flavor, what other options are available for sanitation, if I was going to do a no boil brew using ginger? (I've...

I am getting ready to pitch a higher-alcohol yeast to the secondary for my barleywine. Should I use a 6-1/2 gallon carboy for a 5 gallon batch? I know when I used a champagne yeast in the secondary on another batch it foamed up quite a bit and I was concerned with an overflow. I am thinking...

I am an extract brewer with thoughts of soon going to mini-mash or all grain. I am currently using a small dial thermometer which I am cocerned of losing it in my wort (especially when I am sanitizing during the last 20 of the boil) I am thinking of upgrading but don't want to spend a fortune...

For my latest batch I am using this yeast. It seems to be bubbling sporadically... that is it will bubble for extended periods and then just plain stop for extended periods. Is this normal for this yeast? I am used to batches starting out good and then slowing over a period of a week or so. This...

I am planning my next batch- my first barleywine/ I am hoping to reuse the yeast from my porter (Currently in the primary) which is an English Ale yeast. I've never done this before, so I wanted to get some suggestions. My thoughts were the easiest thing to do would be to bottle the porter and...

Most books I've read suggest starting with a mini-mash on a 5 gallon batch, but the thought occured to me, would it be possible to do an all-grain 1 gallon batch using mini-mash procedures?/

I believe I've just had my first unsuccessful batch, after maybe 18 batches now. It was a fairly straightforward recipe, so I am trying to figure out what went wrong. In fact, I've had a success with an almost indentical yarrow based brew. The recipe was adapted from "sacred and herbal healing...

I've been using an air stone for aeration for a few batches now with great success (much faster fermentations!) However, after my last time aerating, as I was rinsing off my tubing and stone, the stone seems to have broke off. I figured I must have had a cheap stone so I went to the store and...

Upon doing a further investigations, I am wondering if some of the ingredients listed in "The Homebrewers Companion" are intended for a 1 gallon batch and not a 5 gallon batch as listen in the recipe? Compare 2 oz sassafras root and 2 oz sarsparilla to any of the 1 gallon recipes iin sacred...

I'd like to start the new year out right by brewing my first batch of mead. I've got a 13+ gallon glass carboy and my thoughts were to use it as a secondary for a 10-gallon batch of mead using the no-boil techniques. I am figuring on using about 30 pounds of honey, and make this a traditional...

I've used as a rule of thumb bottling when bubbling slows to once every two minutes or slower, but I was wondering if this applies to "alterna-brews" such as beers brewed with maple syrup or brown sugar instead of malt extract which have much longer fermentation periods? I've got one maple...

I was thinking of brewing a hard root beer and using Charlie Papazian's Mack Jack Root beer as a base as suggested at the end of the recipe (steeping crystal malts for sweetness) -- anyone else tried this or anything similar? looking for any comments or suggestions! Thanks

Has anyone tried using this instead of an aquarium pump?

A friend of mine recently picked up a 13+ gallon green glass carboy from goodwill. It is missing a stopper. The opening is quite a bit larger than that of a standard 5 to 6 1/2 gallon carboy = any idea where I might be able to find a stopper for this?

I'd like to brew an extract base heather ale with no hops. There is an extra based recipe in the book Radical Brewing but it uses a small amount of hops. I am just curious if I get rid of the hops will it be ok or should I subsititute something else instead, perhaps more heather tips or heather...

I am brewing a maple beer / wine using maple syrup as my only fermentable. I used a european ale yeast from white labs and am not sure how alchohol tolerant the strain is. When I racked it to the secondary it was quite gooey. I am hoping it thins out but it is only bubbling about once every two...

I am planning on doing two brews from the book "Sacred and herbal healing beers" using brown sugar exclusively as a sugar source . My question is would it be advisable to use a yeast nutrient, and or a paticular strain of yeast? if using a liquid yeast how should I go about making a starter...